It likely goes back to our childhood memories of being sent to the principal’s office, but most of us still get sweaty-palmed about knocking on the boss’s door to ask for something.

Even if you have a great relationship with your manager, it can be nerve-racking to approach your boss to admit you’ve made a mistake, request additional help, seek time off or a pay raise. Fortunately, a little advance preparation and an understanding of the best way to communicate your needs can go a long way.

Congratulations on finding and hiring a strong, qualified new employee, bringing their talent, enthusiasm and valuable skill set to your organization.

Now that you’ve got them, what are you doing to keep them from leaving?

It is no longer enough to apply resources to recruiting employees who are the right fit for your company; it is absolutely necessary to give them reasons to stay. When it comes to retaining top talent, you may be surprised to learn that your company has a lot going for it already — if you have made the effort to create a positive workplace culture.

Lloyd Axworthy, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Winnipeg. (WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS )

The University of Winnipeg is the largest cohort of human activity in the downtown, with 15,000 students, faculty, staff and members of the community engaged on campus.

“There’s a critical mass of people here doing everything from studying to become scientists to putting on performances and attending basketball games. As a centre-of-the-city university, we are an activity hub with an economic impact in the hundreds of millions of dollars,” says Lloyd Axworthy, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Winnipeg.

A multi-generational workforce is not only a reflection of rapidly-changing demographics in today’s society, it is a reality that needs to be integrated into an organization’s recruitment strategy.

Generations of workers typically fall into four categories: traditionalists (born between 1922-45), baby boomers (1946-64), generation X (1965-80) and generation Y (also called millennials, born 1981-99). Because each group has its own markedly different values and expectations, it can be a challenge to attract and recruit one group while ensuring that the other groups’ workplace needs are being met in order to engage and retain them.